Ex officio interventions by the Anti-Corruption and Good Government Ministry in public tenders in México.

March 24, 2025

As part of the verification powers of the Anti-Corruption and Good Government Ministry in the bidding and contracting processes of the Public Sector, the Law on Acquisitions, Leases, and Services of the Public Sector allows it to carry out ex officio interventions to review the legality of public tender procedures.

As part of this function and in response to complaints filed by some pharmaceutical companies regarding the possible commission of acts of corruption, mainly related to the price offered for medicines, the aforementioned Ministry is carrying out an ex officio intervention to the convening authority called Laboratorios de Biológicos y Reactivos de México (BIRMEX) of the procedure of the open international public tender for the consolidated acquisition of medicines, therapeutic goods, healing material and diagnostic aids for fiscal years 2025 and 2026 in order to detect possible irregularities, and as part of said procedure, the entities who were awarded are being required to appear as third interested parties to make statements and to be able to provide information they consider relevant regarding the aforementioned tender process.

These ex officio interventions are not common, and the authorities are carrying them out with greater emphasis to supervise and document the bidding process, and if necessary, they could cancel purchases related to the codes that have not complied with the rules of the process.

At OLIVARES we are attentive and following up on these ex officio actions to advise our clients on what is suggested to be complied with to avoid unjustified requirements in accordance with the applicable legal framework.